It was not part of Chinese culture but something inherited from the aboriginal Taiwanese(from Polynesians), but the immigrants from Fujian now have embraced the Bing Lang. This is the Bing Lang palm, the nuts of these palms are the Bing Lang. The palm grows best in hot weather and with lots of water.
There are twos type sold one in cardboard box. This nut will be split and it will have a red paste and maybe a section of lime to cut the bitterness of the nut. The red paste contains an abrasive to disrupt the cells of the nut and release the stimulant. The abrasive also works on the teeth.
The other way has the nuts wrapped in a leaf and are sold in plastic bag. These are bitter like hell, something like chewing an acorn.
Inside the product looks like:
From the boxes
From the plastic bag
Either one is pretty nasty, people spit the juices into a plastic cup, but then they dump the cup like an ashtray. Or they just spit the juice wherever. Their teeth wind up looking red. Sometimes people say "he's spitting blood" when they spit the juice.
If they spit into a cup, they eventually dump the cup. Bing Lang or Cigarettes I can't tell which is the worst litter. Probably cigarettes, as more smoke than spit.
Either way it winds up looking bad all over. I've tried both, they both seem like a shot of caffeine. I suppose people get addicted like a caffeine habit, but probably worst. It's mostly a habit of the working classes, long hours and physical labor.
Coming to Starbuck soon? A marketing challenge.
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